B. Lowsley

“ The ill-success of the States, in their prohibition of the exportation of gold and silver coin, did not lead them to perceive the futility of the measure; but they were fearful that the copper money, the sous and the liards, would follow their betters, particularly as sous and liards had risen in value in France, and that thus the Island would be deprived of all metallic circulation. They therefore, on the 9th of April, 1720, prohibited the carrying out of the Island of liards and sous to a larger amount than five livres tournois for each person, under the penalty of confiscation ”

“ After conquest and occupation by the Romans, the Gaulish currency, as well as that of ancient Britain, was superseded by Roman issues. Mr. Edward Hawkins, in his standard work on the Silver Coins of England [C] (page 22) , tersely and precisely explains what happened in England; and the Channel Islands came within the same provisions and action.
"It is natural to suppose that when the Roman power had become established in Britain, the ordinary money of that empire would form the general circulation of this country, and that British money would be for the most part, if not entirely, superseded. ”

“ Livres, and sous, and liards tournois continued, in fact, the currency of the Island at their old rate; and many of the native inhabitants of the Island still keep their accounts, or make their reckonings, in the livre tournois—the livre being estimated at twenty sous, and the sou at four liards or twelve deniers. When the English currency was, in the year 1835, adopted as the legal currency of the Island, it was done by declaring the relative value which it bore in circulation to the livre tournois. ”

“ The States of Jersey, a few years before the arrival of the commissioners, perceiving that the King of France had altered and advanced his several coins, established what they considered an equivalent value between these coins and the moneys in Jersey after the old rates. The difference was about seven per cent. The French crown was advanced to four sous more, the guardesen from fifteen sous to sixteen sous, the teston from fourteen sous and a half to fifteen sous and a half, and the franc from twenty sous to twenty-one sous four deniers tournois. The only money in circulation was French ”

“ Since the coats of arms for the islands of Guernsey and Jersey appear on the coins minted for these islands in England in the nineteenth century, the following notes may be of interest:—
In 1279 King Edward I. granted a Public Seal, with arms (as for England) , to the islands of Jersey and Guernsey. The arms for Guernsey now differ only from those of Jersey in being surmounted by a sprig of laurel, or another plant. It is not, however, stated why or when this sprig was conferred. ”

“ The seigneur of the fief des Augrès was in the hands of William Bras de Fer; and he had to meet the king, when he arrived in Jersey, on horseback, to the girths of his saddle, in the sea; and the fief owed, as relief, the sum of seven livres. Besides the services due by the fiefs de haubert, we find that a great number of persons owed stated sums annually to the Crown for the lands held by them. The names of the persons are mentioned, together with the quantity of land, for which a fixed annual sum was due. For instance, several persons owed for a bovata of land the sum of eight sols annually. ”

“ It will be observed from the above analysis how considerably the proportions of the white metals, as silver and tin, vary in these coins, and this variation, as regards metallic composition, is so universal that amongst a large number in the same "find" you will even, on cleaning the coins, see some of them look as if made of silver, and the colour vary, until you reach some that appear hardly better than wholly of copper. It would be very interesting to know where the metal or ore for these coinages was procured from. ”

“ The States complain that whereas by their ancient customs they were allowed in Guernsey to pay all dues to the King in such money as was current in Normandy, the Governor and his Deputy had insisted on continuing to pay such French money as they had in their possession after it had been recalled, and would no longer pass in Normandy. [Pg 35]
14.—Jan. 4, 1649. It hath been ordained this day that the English shilling, being worth 12 pence sterling, shall go in this island for 12 sols tournois in payment, and receate and other species of English money in proportion. ”

“ There must have been a natural mixture of most of the metals.
I have looked through a "find" of more than 200 Jersey Gaulish coins, which are in the possession of R. R. Lemprière, Esq. They were turned up by the plough on his manor of Rozel; and whatever covering had enclosed them had either gone to decay, or become broken up, as they were quite loose. He had cleaned a few of them. Even to the eye the metallic composition varied greatly—some being of the colour of silver, and some lowering to that of copper. ”

“ You may imagine my lord Culpeper was forward to help him, and how he promised to set up his mint, and assured us that he had contracted with merchants at St. Malloe to bring in such a quantity of bullion as would make the revenue very considerable to the Prince. We wondered why the merchants of St. Malloe should desire to have English money coined. He gave us an answer that appeared very reasonable: that all the trade they drove with the west country for tin, fish, or wool, was driven with money ”

“ That traces of the old Northmen, which were once obscure, have now become clear and patent; that institutions, long deemed Roman, may be Scandinavian; that in blood and language there are many more foreign elements than were originally recognized, are the results of much well-applied learning and acumen. ”

“ He divided the militia into regiments, and remodelled the artillery. On his proposition, in order to compel the men to attend with regularity to their military duties, so essential for the preservation of the island, the States, on the 25th September, 1666, ordered that fines should be levied by the vingteniers for all defaults in the following proportions:—
"It is an indication of the little traffic of the Island that payments were usually made in liards—small copper coins of the value of one-eighth of a penny. ”

“ The livre tournois is now held to be worth 1⁄14 of the Guernsey pound sterling—e.g., in purchasing a property the contract will stipulate the value (even at the present day) in quarters of wheat, generally adding a proviso that the quarter payable is to be redeemed for £14 trs.—i.e., £1 Guernsey sterling. Fines imposed by the Court are always expressed in livres, sols, and deniers tournois. ”

“ No coined money is to be embarked here on pain of confiscation. Merchandise imported is to be paid for by bills on London or other places; the masters of vessels are only to receive enough cash for their expenses here. ”

“ The island being flooded with foreign doubles, no one shall be compelled to take more of them than the value of 2 sous tournois per crown of the money to be paid to him.
States:
11.—February 26, 1640. A quantity of light French coin being current in the island, traders and others insist on weighing these moneys, refusing to take them at more than their true value. It is ordered that such money be always weighed, as is done in Normandy.
12.—On the 3rd of the said February, 1640, it had been ordered that all such coins should pass for their nominal value without weighing. ”

“ Even at the present day, if at any ordinary shop in Jersey you take change in coppers, you will probably find amongst them two or three French sous, two or three Jersey pence or half-pence, an English penny or two, and one or two coins of Spain or Italy, and, until lately, even perhaps one of the numerous coins introduced by the Russian troops who were formerly in Jersey. ”

“ As regards gold and silver currency, none but English-struck coins are usually fully current and tendered everywhere.
Le Quesne, at a footnote, page 263, writes:—"The average weight of a Jersey quarter of wheat is 260 lbs. English. Compared to an English quarter, the proportion is 13⁄24."
The Rev. G. E. Lee says:—"From the earliest times the quarter (Guernsey measure or measures) of wheat has been the unit of currency here, the value of the quarter being every year proclaimed by the Royal Court and affeuré in terms of so many livres and sols tournois. ”

“ In the 8th year of the reign of King Henry III., 1224, there was an order on the Treasury to deliver to the Governor of Jersey, Galpidus de Lucy, 400 livres for the payment of eight knights, each knight to receive two solidos per diem; for the pay of thirty-five cavalry soldiers, each to receive twelve deniers per diem ”

“ French coins, not worn out—e.g., quarter and half-crowns, testons and half-testons, francs and half-francs—are to be received at the rate of 64 sols to the crown. Reals to be held worth 5 deniers.
8.—4th October, 1619. Many unauthorized persons having coined freluques, this is forbidden under pain of public whipping "jusqu' à effusion de sang."
9.—6th October, 1623. The Normans having sent hither a quantity of deniers tournois, which they are passing for doubles, the Governor is asked to appoint a person to coin freluques. ”

“ Raulin le François owed for forty-two acres of land—twelve in Trinity parish, and thirty in that of St. Laurens—an annual dinner to the king at Michaelmas, which was, however, partaken by the bailli, the vicomte, and the clerk of the king. This dinner could be commuted for the payment of twelve deniers, which does not raise any extravagant notions of the style of living in those days. The abbot of St. Saviour's, however, for the priory of Bonnenuit, owed to the king annually an apparently better dinner, for it was estimated at eleven sols. ”

“ Often the mane of the horse is arranged and curled, as if specially so dressed for parade or show, and almost suggests decorations as still sometimes adopted by American Indian or other barbarian chiefs. There are reins, too, in some instances, and these are sometimes held by a rough representation of an arm and hand. The legs of the horse always indicate gallopping. ”

“ They are often turned up in agricultural work, and many farmers possess a few, but will not part with them, nor with their stone or bronze spear-heads, arrow-heads, axe-heads, and jars, as there is often some superstition that it is unlucky to let these be sold away from the neighbourhood where they were dug up. ”

“ In this lot there were but two of the smaller size of 25 grains, and I think that proportion may perhaps give some indication as to the relative rarity of the two coins; for at a rough estimate one seems to meet only about one in a hundred, which is of the smaller kind. The larger Gaulish coins are common; large "finds" of the types formerly used in the Channel Islands having been made on the adjacent mainland of Normandy and Brittany, and also on the south coast of England. ”

“ A esté ordonné que dormavent seul recevant argent, ne sera tenu en prendre à plus de la valeur de deux sous par escu sur l'argent qu'il recevra.'
"In the margin opposite this ordinance there is insertion of the words 'Doubles ou Liards,' thus showing decisively that with us in Guernsey a Double was a Liard, and a Liard a Double. In France, however, in ancient coinage a Liard was the fourth part of a Sou, and a Double intrinsically held of slightly higher value. ”

“ It cannot, however, but be observed that if the sprig be intended to represent the slight, insignificant foliage of the Plantagenista [called "Broom" in the south of England] , the design is very unlike and misleading. ”

“ As regards the official seals used locally for Alderney and Sark, under date, Alderney, 22nd February, 1895, the Procureur of Alderney informs me:—
"The Guernsey seal is not ours, nor is it ever used by us. ”

“ Liards are to be held worth 7 to the sou.
34.—April 15, 1829. The order of 6th July, 1816, repealed so far as regards the old French crowns of 6 francs.
35.—April 27th, 1829. Considering that French money has been from time immemorial, and still is, legal currency in this island, orders that the new French coinage shall be in use here—one franc to be worth 10 Guernsey pennies.
36.—May 1, 1848. The French money not always being available in sufficient quantity, English gold and silver coins and Bank of England notes are to be used concurrently with French money. ”